


If Wishes Were Horses

by TiedyedTrickster



Series: I am Hogyoku [3]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Aizen gets his, Gen, Hogyoku as a character, intelligent Gin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 20:26:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7329532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiedyedTrickster/pseuds/TiedyedTrickster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ichimaru Gin has done terrible things in his quest to bring down Aizen, and in the end his own fate comes down to a single question - and whether he can answer it correctly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Wishes Were Horses

“They won’t accept you, you know.”

Hogyoku looks curiously at the brown-haired man with kind eyes. It had wandered away while the rest of the crowd dealt with the revelations of its creator and the truth of Rukia’s execution. That was when the two captains had found it – the one with glasses and the one with silver hair.

“Who won’t?” it asks, surprised.

The brown-haired man’s smile grows a little sad. “The other shinigami. Central 46. Soul Society in general. They are incapable of tolerating anything different, anything that threatens their way of life.”

Hogyoku cocks its head to the side. “You are a shinigami, though, a captain. How are you any different?”

The man spreads his hands. “I embrace change – I hope to lead Soul Society from its cycle of endless stagnation and into a bright future. But to do that I need your help. Will you join me?”

 

OoOoOoOoO

 

Aizen watches from a distance as the hogyoku interacts with his illusion and smiles. An all-powerful being it might be, but it is also, in many ways, like a newborn child, innocent of the world, easy to manipulate. Now it bites its lip, fingers the fiery orange sheath of the sword it had manifested itself not long ago, no doubt imitating the shinigami who surround it,

“But… I have done nothing wrong.”

His illusion smiles, sad and warm and paternal. “That will not matter to them. They will see you merely as a tool that has gained a will of its own somehow – a dangerous weapon to be chained and contained.”

“And tricked?”

He frowns a bit. The thing seems to be looking past his illusion and Gin now, at where he is truly standing. But this is impossible – it is in a gigai, a living body, and there are none who can withstand his hypnosis. Still, he pours a little more power into it, just to be safe.

“Yes. False promises are the basis of Soul Society.”

“So they will steal this body from me, and attempt to bind me to their will?”

“Almost certainly.”

Its shoulders are drooping, he has it. The illusion’s smile warms just a little and reaches out to put a hand on the false being’s shoulder.

“And are those the intentions of Soul Society… or of you, Sousuke Aizen?” the hogyoku looks up and its eyes are cold now, and locked directly on him as it walks through his illusion like mist, past the startled Gin to stand before him. “I see the dreams in your heart, lonely false god. I see the blood on your hands and the stains on your soul. I know what you have done. I know what you intend to do – to me, to Soul Society.”

Aizen smiles as it puts its hand on the bone-white hilt of its sword. “Are you sure you want to do this? I would be a kind master.”

“I serve only one master – it will never be you.” The hogyoku’s voice is like ice as it draws its blade.

Aizen sighs and unsheathes his zanpakuto. “I had hoped to avoid this. But if you will not join me willingly, then I have no choice but to cut you from that gigai.”

“That will not happen.”

He allows himself a slightly superior smile. “I see no way it cannot. You are powerful, but you are simply a created being with a sword you made, facing a shinigami captain with a fully mastered zanpakuto.”

The hogyoku tilts its head. “I did not make this – it was given to me. And it is as real a zanpakuto as yours.” Its stance shifts, preparing to stab. “Pronounce Judgement, Sogyoku.”

Aizen is a master manipulator, and there are few outcomes he does not have at least a vague contingency for. The hogyoku manifesting as a sentient being was one of them. And he had _definitely_ not prepared for the possibility of the hogyoku becoming the wielder of the Sogyoku. He is still staring in shock as the blade of the naginata the zanpakuto has become pierces his chest.

“May the next life be better.” The layered voice of the hogyoku is quiet, and its eyes… _regretful_ as it shifts its grip a little. “Enact Justice.”

Its eyes do not leave his as ghostly flames spread from the Sogyoku and, for Sousuke Aizen, the world goes dark for the last time.

 

OoOoOoOoO

 

Gin watches in shock as Aizen collapses with a sigh, his reiatsu gone. The being – Hogyoku – watches, eyes shadowed, as the Sogyoku once again becomes a katana. And, as Aizen falls, so too do all the illusions.

Including those that Aizen did not create.

Gin is only half surprised to find himself standing on Sogyoku Hill, surrounded by his former colleagues. Slowly he raises his hands and claps, smiling as Hogyoku turns to him.

“Very impressive. I suppose I’m next?” his words are bold, but his heart aches. This being took Aizen down like it was nothing. He… really doesn’t stand a chance – not like this, surrounded by his former colleagues as he is. “If it’s not too cheeky, I don’t suppose I could shake your hand before you kill me?”

He’s surprised when the being walks over and extends a small hand to him. The watching shinigami are silent as he takes it, and he can’t suppress a wince as he does so because it burns like a brand, but he holds on, bowing over it. “Thank-you.” It takes an effort to let go – he’s badly burned, it’s doubtful he’ll ever wield a sword again without extensive treatment, but it’s a small price to pay for what he’s done. And he’s going to die soon anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.

Hogyoku tilts its head at him as he retracts his arm, not clutching his burnt hand to his chest by sheer force of will. “I see the dreams in your heart as well, Ichimaru Gin. They taste sweet.” Its strange voice is gentle, though not falsely so like Aizen’s. It sheathes the Sogyoku and smiles at him. “I think we will be good friends.”

There is a profound silence for a moment. And then-

“What is the meaning of this?!?”

Gin winces as Captain-Commander Yamamoto strides forward to glare at Gin and Hogyoku, his reiatsu rising high enough to make the nearby lieutenants wince.

Hogyoku doesn’t appear to notice. “I’m talking to Gin. You should probably take him to Unohana along with Father – they’re hurt.”

“They are traitors to Soul Society!”

Hogyoku snorts. “You’re just being pissy because they figured out about Aizen before you did.”

…Gin is going to treasure the face Yamamoto makes at being told he’s ‘being pissy’ for the rest of his extremely short existence.

“Besides,” Hogyoku continues, “Father says you shouldn’t kill the smart ones out of hand – that’s how you end up surrounded by idiots.”

Gin is having a hard time keeping a straight face now, though the Captain-Commander’s growing rage is helping with that somewhat. It’s only with an effort the old man calms himself, though Gin can see the fury still boiling beneath the surface.

“Ichimaru Gin will be tried for his actions, as would any other criminal,” Yamamoto states in a tone that still makes some captains flinch, and he walks towards Hogyoku, one hand held out, “In the meantime, you will return the Sogyoku and relinquish that gigai until such a time as a new Central 46 can be formed and a decision made as to what is to be done with you.”

Hogyoku chews its lip lightly while looking up and away, considering. Then it returns its gaze to the most powerful shinigami in Soul Society and smiles brightly. “No.”

“ ** _No_**?!?” Yamamoto looks torn between rage and shock over the fact that he has been disobeyed- no, directly defied.

“No.” Hogyoku repeats firmly, one hand coming to a rest of the red-orange sheath of the Sogyoku, “You gifted this blade to me, and the weight of it is pleasant in my hand. And it’s rude to demand the return of gifts, even those given in malice. As for this gigai, I have already made my intentions for it clear. If you had not wished me to inhabit it, you should not have placed me in it in the first place, nor left me within for so long.”

“That was Urahara’s doing!” the Captain-Commander thunders, and several lower-ranked shinigami, including Renji and Rukia, whom Hogyoku steadies as she bumps into it, and even Ichigo fall to their knees at the weight of reiatsu. “You are a tool, and you will obey me!”

Hogyoku’s eyes narrow, blue and violet flames dancing in them dangerously now. “Be wary, Captain-Commander,” it says, its layered voice rippling, “And keep a mind to those around you. I am Hogyoku, the King’s Jewel, and I serve but one master. As it was not Aizen, nor is it you. Be wary, old man, for silencing the stale dreams of your heart will cause me no grief.”

“Then who is this master of yours?” Yamamoto growls, though he restrains himself and his reiatsu enough that everyone can breathe without gasping again.

Hogyoku tilts its head and smiles at him. “Why don’t we make a bet about it, Captain-Commander? A bet for the life of Ichimaru Gin.”

Gin is suddenly _very_ invested in this conversation.

“A bet?” Yamamoto growls, obviously unpleased with the situation but unable to do anything about it, “Of what sort?”

“Simple,” Hogyoku replies, cheerful again, “If Gin can guess who my master is, you have to be fair with him, and take into account the motivations of his actions as opposed to simply striking him down in place of Aizen. If he cannot, I will not interfere with your will in this matter.”

Yamamoto narrows his eyes, then smiles as well. “I agree to this, on the terms that he has only one guess.”

“Done!” Hogyoku says, turning to Gin. “Well, then? Who do you think I answer to, Gin?”

And Gin would be extremely annoyed about all this, except that he resigned himself to a traitor’s death decades ago.

Oh, and also because it’s a really obvious answer.

He’s honestly a little shocked no one else has figured it out yet. He makes a show of considering his answer, though – no point in antagonizing Yamamoto more than he already is. After what feels like the appropriate amount of time, he turns to the old shinigami and smiles. “Sir, the master of the Hogyoku is Rukia Kuchiki.”

“Ridiculous,” Yamamoto snaps at the same time Hogyoku beams.

“Yes!”

“WHAT?!?” Yamamoto roars and all attention is now on the Kuchiki girl, who looks as shell-shocked as any of them, “How can this be?!?”

Hogyoku shrugs. “Is she not the one I was freely given to? She who gave her freedom and offered her life in the place of her friends? She who faced unjust death with no hate and no anger, but simply peace?”

Yamamoto makes an angry sound. “How could the traitor Gin have known who you served without your help?”

“Sir, if I may,” Gin interjects smoothly, because the future’s looking a lot longer than it did a few minutes ago and while he’s resigned to death he’s also open to other options, “Any help I received was inadvertent. I merely noticed that, of all of us Hogyoku has touched, only Miss Kuchiki has remained unburnt.”

“Just so,” Hogyoku nods as all eyes are drawn to where it still holds the hand it grasped to steady Rukia earlier. Then it turns and kneels before her, now clasping her hand between both of its own, expression earnest. “I have done as you dreamed, my master; I have ended this with no needlessly spilt blood, your friends and family safe, and the root of it all destroyed. What would you have me do now? The dreams in your heart are so many… Shall I refashion the world to be more to your liking? Shall I lay waste to Hueco Mundo? Shall I set you upon the throne the false god wished to claim for his own? Name your desire, my master, and it is yours.”

Gin watches the Kuchiki girl in tense silence along with the rest of the assembled shinigami. What will she do? This girl who they have wronged, who was nearly killed for the crimes of others, and who has just had nigh infinite power dropped in her lap. He sees the emotions passing through her eyes and, as a fellow child of the Rukongai, he thinks he knows some of what she’s thinking. There is so much wrong with Soul Society, so many places the system is broken, so many things that could be better. And here is a being who kneels before her with a glad heart, requiring only a word to erase this broken world and replace it with a newer one, a _better_ one…

Finally the troubled emotions leave her eyes, replaced by calm resolve, and she covers Hogyoku’s hands with her free one. “I think,” she says, “I want you to let us clean up our own mess. Help us if we need it, but… we need to change the world for ourselves. We can do it,” she glances at where Ichigo and Renji stand side by side, a united front, and smiles, “I know we can do it,” she repeats, turning back to Hogyoku, “And it will mean more if we do it with our own hands as much as we can. That is my dream.”

Hogyoku blinks wide eyes at her. Then its expression goes warm and it sighs in contentment. “My master is wise. Very well – I shall stand back until such times as I must step in.”

And in the silence that follows, Gin laughs. Because the Kuchiki girl has just given a nigh omnipotent being leave to do pretty much whatever it sees fit, and there’s a good chance he might live to see the results, and he has a feeling that things are going to be pretty interesting around here from now on.

 

OoOoOoOoO

 

Later, after Captain Kuchiki has ruined the image he’s been trying to maintain for decades, it’s Gin who’s wearing a prisoner’s robe and sitting in a cell, his hand heavily bandaged (the ryoka girl had offered to heal it for him, but he had turned her down), and a faint grin on his face. While not great, his future looks nowhere _near_ as bleak as it had. He’s been stripped of his rank, yes, and his zanpakuto (no surprise), and he’s been fitted with reiatsu restraints to keep his power in check, but he’s not dead. Scheduled to serve a _lot_ of time, yes, but not dead. There’s even the chance that he might get back Shinsou’s physical vessel one day, if he continues to be helpful and not cause trouble.

He tucks his good hand behind his head and lays back on his cot. Considering that the only outcome to all this he’d ever foreseen for himself was a traitor’s death, things have worked out extremely well. If only…

“Hey.”

A finger pokes him in the side, and if the sudden, silent arrival of another person in his cell hadn’t been a dead give-away of who is with him, that simple greeting would have been. He opens one eye to look up at Hogyoku. “You have a very distinctive voice, you know that?”

“Yes.” Hogyoku is watching him. It has yet to replace the prisoner’s garb it was wearing when it first awoke, but it still looks out of place here in the cell.

“Much as I appreciate you helping me, you probably shouldn’t be here,” he says, tone one of friendly advice, “Why are you here, anyway?”

It tilts its head and smiles. “Because today, Rukongai boy, you ride.”

Then it holds out its hand and both of Gin’s eyes fly wide open as he sits up, staring at the thing Hogyoku is offering him. “That’s not-?”

“It is.”

Hogyoku tips the ball of pink energy into his left hand, careful not to brush him with its burning skin. He cups it to his chest, protective, eyes still wide. There is a quiet, echoing giggle and, when he looks up, Hogyoku is gone. He looks down again, half expecting the energy to be gone as well but it’s still there, tucked safely in his hand-

“Oi!”

He looks up just in time for something to smack him between the eyes. He blinks, shakes his head, stares at his assailant.

“You know, it really does take a smart man to do something quiet this stupid.” Rangiku Matsumoto leans against the bars of his cell, tossing another dried persimmon in her hand, ready to throw. She raises an eyebrow at him. “You’d better have a damn good explanation, Ichimaru.”

He winces, because she only calls him ‘Ichimaru’ when she is well and truly pissed at him, but at the same time he can’t stop smiling as he stands and walks over to the bars, his left hand and its precious cargo still held close to his chest.

The future might not be great, but that’s okay, because this moment?

This moment is perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> To anyone who thinks Hogyoku is OP in this… again, it’s the freaking Hogyoku. It’s entire purpose is to be OP as heck, as far as I can tell, and I see no reason for sentience to change this. Also Hogyoku really didn’t give Gin any help during the bet.
> 
> It did, however, know he’d already figured out the answer before it suggested the terms.
> 
> Gin is a character who has impressed me ever since I found out the true scope of his plan and just how long he’s been onto Aizen and working to take him down, all on his own. A motivation that began because he saw Aizen hurt someone Gin didn’t even know yet. So it made me sad that I’ve never seen him succeed in his goal of returning to Matsumoto the energy Aizen stole from her, even in stories.
> 
> Rukia seems the natural master of the Hogyoku to me. I’ve seen many people give it to Ichigo but, honestly, that boy doesn’t need any more power or responsibility, he needs some properly supportive allies, formal training, and some serious therapy for PTSD amongst other things. Rukia’s been getting kicked basically this entire arc for something that wasn’t in any way her fault, she works extremely hard to do the right thing in the arcs I’ve seen her in, and her backstory is just ouch. It’s her turn to call the shots for awhile.
> 
> I have three more stories written for this crazy universe – let’s see when I manage to type them up.


End file.
